Personal electronic device for gaming and bonus system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to communication methods in gaming networks using portable devices. In some networks portable devices communicate information about the status of particular gaming machines on the gaming network. In other networks portable devices are used as a secondary display for the gaming device. In yet other networks bonus games may be played on the portable devices. Further embodiments include a portable device that operates to match a current state of a game to a pre-defined state or states.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. application Ser. No.12/713,090, filed Feb. 25, 2010, entitled PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICE FORGAMING AND BONUS SYSTEM (Attorney Doc. No. 1254-0003), and is related toU.S. application Ser. No. 12/713,085, filed Feb. 25, 2010, entitledSYSTEM FOR TRADE-IN BONUS (Attorney Doc. No. 1254-0002) and ______,filed Mar. 2, 2010, entitled SYSTEM FOR TRADE-IN BONUS (Attorney Doc.No. 1254-0005), the contents of all of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to gaming systems, and moreparticularly to efficient and convenient ways of sending information toplayers about current status of gaming systems.

BACKGROUND

Recreational gamblers often gamble more often when enticements such asbonuses, gambling games, discounts, and preferential treatment areafforded them. Gamblers are further enticed by rewards for loyalty,personal recognition and access to information they perceive asproviding an advantage or edge in their gambling activities. Often,gamblers feel a heightened sense of advantage when they are given accessto information, services and opportunities not readily available toothers.

Casinos have long known that gambles desire such information andenticements. The challenge of providing information, services andenticements gamblers desire is made difficult by the lack of efficientcommunication channels. Today's casinos have only limited tools ofcommunication, such as newsletters, websites, floor personnel, signageand information presented on the games themselves. Modern gamblingmachines are already equipped with a wide range of information displaysand it can be difficult to communicate a specific proposition togamblers amid all the general messages already displayed.

Further, the information desired by one gambler may well be consideredclutter by another gambler.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other limitations in theprior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating various components of a gamingsystem according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram that illustrates an example gamingdevice that can be a part of the gaming system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of an example machine interface device shownin FIG. 1 according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram of an example processor in the machineinterface device illustrated in FIG. 3A according to embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example bonus controller shown in FIG. 1according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example personal electronic deviceaccording to embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 6A-6D are system diagrams illustrating various operatingenvironments of the personal electronic devices of FIG. 5, according toembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram illustrating components of a gaming systemthat can be integrated with or additional to those of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 8A-8E are example screen diagrams illustrating operation of thepersonal electronic device during operation of a bonus, according toembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a bank of gaming devices each including awireless communication port according to embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are example screen views of a PED in detection modeand detected modes, respectively, according to embodiments of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating various components of a gamingsystem according to embodiments of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1,the gaming system 2 includes several gaming devices, also referred to asElectronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) 10 that are connected to a gamingnetwork 50 through various communication mechanisms.

In general, a gaming network 50 connects any of a number of EGMs 10, orother gaming devices, such as those described below, for centralmanagement. Accounting and other functions may be served by a connectedserver 60 and database 70. For example many player tracking functions,bonusing systems, and promotional systems may be centrally administratedfrom the server 60 and database 70. In some embodiments there may bemultiple servers 60 and databases 70, each performing differentfunctions. In other embodiments functions may be combined and operate ona single or small group of servers 60, each with their own database 70or combined databases.

Many of the EGMs 10 of FIG. 1 connect to the gaming network 50 through aMachine Interface Device, MID 20. In general, the MID 20 is amulti-protocol interface that monitors communication between the gamingnetwork 50 and the EGM 10. In a common embodiment, the MID 20communicates to the EGM 10 through a standard gaming network port, usinga standard gaming network protocol, SAS, which is well known in thegaming industry. Most modern games include at least one communicationport, which is commonly a SAS port or a port for another communicationprotocol. The MID 20, along with its various functions and communicationmethods is described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B below.

Other EGMs 10 in FIG. 1 connect to the gaming network 50 through a bonuscontroller 40, which may be coupled between the gaming network 50 andgaming device 10. The bonus controller 40 generally communicates througha non-SAS protocol, such as another well-known communication protocolknown as GSA. GSA is typically carried over an Ethernet network, andthus the bonus controller 40 includes an Ethernet transceiver, which isdescribed with reference to FIG. 4 below. Because the bonus controller40 communication may be Ethernet based, a switch 30 may be used toextend the number of devices that may be coupled to the bonus controller40. The bonus controller 40 and/or the MID 20 may create or convert dataor information received according to a particular protocol, such as SAS,into data or information according to another protocol, such as GSA. Inthis way the MID 20 and bonus controller 40 are equipped to communicate,seamlessly, between any EGM 10 and gaming network 50 no matter whichcommunication protocols are in use. Further, because the MID 20 andbonus controller 40 are programmable, and include multiple extensiblecommunication methods, as described below, they are capable ofcommunicating with EGMs 10 that will communicate using protocols andcommunication methods developed in the future.

Other games or devices on which games may be played are connected to thegaming network using other connection and/or communication methods. Forinstance, an EGM 12 may couple directly to the network 50 without anyintervening hardware, other than hardware that is built into the EGM 12to connect it to the network 50. Likewise, a player kiosk 14 may bedirectly coupled to the gaming network. The player kiosk 14 allowsplayers, managers, or other personnel to access data on the gamingnetwork 50, such as a player tracking record, and/or to perform otherfunctions using the network. For example, a player may be able to checkthe current holdings of the player account, transfer balances, redeemplayer points for credits, cash, or other merchandise or coupons, suchas food or travel coupons, for instance.

A wireless transceiver 32 couples the gaming network 50 to a wirelessEGM 36, such as a handheld device, or, through a cell phone or othercompatible data network, the transceiver 32 connects to a cellular phone34. The cellular phone 34 may be a “smart phone,” which in essence is ahandheld computer capable of playing games or performing other functionson the gaming network 50, as described in some embodiments of theinvention.

The gaming network 50 also couples to the internet 70, which in turn iscoupled to a number of computers, such as the personal computer 72illustrated in FIG. 1. The personal computer 72 may be used much likethe kiosk 14, described above, to manage player tracking or other datakept on the gaming network 50. More likely, though, is that the personalcomputer 72 is used to play actual games in communication with thegaming network 50. Player data related to games and other functionsperformed on the personal computer 72 may be tracked as if the playerwere playing on an EGM 10.

In general, in operation, a player inserts a starting credit into one ofthe games, such as an EGM 10. The EGM 10 sends data through its SAS orother data communication port through the MID 20 and/or bonus controller50 to the gaming network 50. Various servers 60 and databases 70 collectinformation about the gameplay on the EGM 10, such as wagers made,results, various pressing of the buttons on the EGM 10, for example. Inaddition, the SAS port on the EGM 10 may also be coupled, through theMID 20 as described below, to other systems, such as player trackingsystems, accounting, and ticketing systems, such as Ticket-In-Ticket-Out(TITO) systems.

In addition, the EGM 10 accepts information from systems external to theEGM itself to cause the EGM 10 to perform other functions. For example,these external systems may drive the EGM 10 to issue additional creditsto the player. In another example, a promotional server may direct theEGM 10 to print a promotional coupon on the ticket printer of the EGM.

The bonus controller 40 is structured to perform some of theabove-described functions as well. For example, in addition to standardgames on the EGM 10, the bonus controller 40 is structured to drive theEGM 10 to pay bonus awards to the player based on any of the factors, orcombination of factors, related to the EGM 10, the player playing theEGM 10, particular game outcomes of the game being played, or otherfactors.

In this manner, the combination of the bonus controller 40 and MID 20are a sub-system capable of interfacing with each of the EGMs on agaming network 50. Through this interface, the MID 20 may gather dataabout the game, gameplay, or player, or other data on the EGM 10, andforward it to the bonus controller 40. The bonus controller 40 then usessuch collected data as input and, when certain conditions are met, sendsinformation and/or data to the EGM 10 to cause it to perform certainfunctions.

In a more detailed example, suppose a player is playing an EGM 10coupled to the MID 20 and the bonus controller 40 described above. Theplayer inserts a player tracking card so the gaming network 50 knows theplayer identity. The MID 20 also stores such identifying information, orperhaps stores only information that the player is a level-2 identifiedplayer, for instance. The MID 20 passes such information to the bonuscontroller 40, which has been programmed to provide a welcome-back bonusto any level-2 player after he or she has played two games. Gameplay onthe EGM 10 continues and, after the player plays two games, the bonuscontroller 40 instructs the EGM 10 to add an additional 40 credits tothe EGM 10 as the welcome-back bonus. Such monitoring and control of theEGM 10 can occur in conjunction with, but completely separate from anyplayer tracking or bonusing function that is already present on thegaming network 50. In other words, the server 60, when structured atleast in part as a bonusing server, may be set to provide a time-basedbonus of 10 credits for every hour played by the player of the EGM 10.The above-described welcome-back bonus may be managed completelyseparately through the bonus controller 40 and MID 20. Further, all ofthe actions on the EGM 10 caused by the bonus controller 40 are alsocommunicated to the standard accounting, tracking, and other systemsalready present on the gaming network 50.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram that illustrates an example gamingdevice that can be a part of the gaming system shown in FIG. 1.Referring to FIG. 2, the illustrated gaming device 100 is an example ofthe EGMs 10, 12 that are shown in FIG. 1. These EGMs 10, 12 may includeall types of electronic gaming machines, such as physical reel slotmachines, video slot machines, video poker gaming devices, videoblackjack machines, keno games, and any other type of devices may beused to wager monetary-based credits on a game of chance. As mentionedabove, various other types of gaming devices may be connected to thenetwork 50 (FIG. 1) such as wireless gaming devices 36, computers usedfor gaming purposes 72, cellular phones 34, multi-player gamingstations, server-based gaming terminals, etc.

Returning to FIG. 2, the illustrated gaming device 100 includes acabinet 105 to house various parts of the gaming device 100, therebyallowing certain components to remain securely isolated from playerinterference, while providing access to player input/output devices sothat the player may interact with the gaming device. The securely housedcomponents include the game processor 120, memory 110, and connectionport 130. The game processor 120, depending on the type of gaming device100, may completely or partially control the operation of the gamingdevice. For example, if the gaming device 100 is a standalone gamingdevice, game processor 120 may control virtually all of the operationsof the gaming device and attached equipment. In other configurations,the game processor 120 may implement instructions generated by orcommunicated from a remote server (e.g., server 60 shown in FIG. 1) orother controller. For example, the game processor 120 may be responsiblefor running a base game of the gaming device 100 and executinginstructions received over the network 50 from a bonus server or playertracking server. In a server-based gaming environment, the gameprocessor 120 may simply act as a terminal to perform instructions froma remote server that is running game play on the gaming device 100.

The memory 110 is connected to the game processor 120 and may beconfigured to store various game information about gameplay or playerinteractions with the gaming device 100. This memory may be volatile(e.g., RAM), non-volatile (e.g., flash memory), or include both types ofmemory. The connection port 130 is also connected to the game processor120. This connection port 130 typically connects the gaming device 100to a gaming network, such as the gaming network 50 described above. Theconnection port 130 may be structured as a serial port, parallel port,Ethernet port, optical connection, wireless antenna, or any other typeof communication port used to transmit and receive data. Although onlyone connection port 130 is shown in FIG. 1, the gaming device 100 mayinclude multiple connection ports. As described above, in many existinggaming devices, this connection port 130 is a serial connection portutilizing a SAS protocol to communicate to one or more remote gameservers, such as player tracking servers, bonus servers, accountingservers, etc.

The player input/output devices housed by the gaming cabinet 105 includea game display 130, a button panel 140 having one or more buttons 145, aticket printer 150, a bill/ticket reader 170, a credit meter 175, aplayer club interface device 160, and one or more game speakers 195.Various gaming devices may include fewer or more input/output devices(e.g., a game handle, a coin acceptor, a coin hopper, etc.) dependingupon the configuration of the gaming device.

The gaming display 130 may have mechanical spinning reels, a videodisplay, or include a combination of both spinning reels and a videodisplay, or use other methods to display aspects of the gameplay to theplayer. If the gaming display 130 is a video display, the gaming displaymay include a touch screen to further allow the player to interact withgame indicia, soft buttons, or other displayed objects. The button panel140 allows the player to select and place wagers on the game of chance,as well as allowing the player to control other aspects of gaming. Forexample, some gaming devices allow the player to press a button 145 tosignal that he or she requires player assistance. Other buttons maybring up a help menu and/or game information. The buttons 145 may alsobe used to play bonuses or make selections during bonus rounds.

Ticket printers 150 have relatively recently been included on mostgaming devices to eliminate the need to restock coin hoppers and allow aplayer to quickly cash-out credits and transfer those credits to anothergaming device. The tickets can also typically be redeemed for cash at acashier cage or kiosk. The ticket printers are usually connected to thegame processor and to a remote server, such as a TITO server toaccomplish its intended purpose. In gaming devices that have more thanone peripheral device, and which include only a single SAS port, theperipheral devices all share communication time over the connection port130.

Another peripheral device that often requires communication with aremote server is the player club interface device 160. The player clubinterface device 160 may include a reader device and one or more inputmechanisms. The reader is configured to read an object or indiciaidentifying the player. The identifying object may be a player club cardissued by the casino to a player that includes player informationencoded on the card. Once the player is identified by a gaming device,the player club interface device 160 communicates with a remote playerserver through the connection port 130 to associate a player accountwith the gaming device 100. This allows various information regardingthe player to be communicated between the gaming device 100 and theplayer server, such as amounts wagered, credits won, and rate of play.In other embodiments, the card reader may read other identifying cards(such as driver licenses, credit cards, etc.) to identify a player.Although FIG. 2 shows the reader as a card reader, other embodiments mayinclude a reader having a biometric scanner, PIN code acceptor, or othermethods of identifying a player so as to pair the player with theirplayer tracking account. As is known in the art, it is typicallyadvantageous for a casino to encourage a player to join a player clubsince this may inspire loyalty to the casino, as well as give the casinoinformation about the player's likes, dislikes, and gaming habits. Tocompensate the player for joining a player club, the casino often awardsplayer points or other prizes to identified players during game play.

Other input/output devices of the gaming device 100 include a creditmeter 175, a bill/ticket acceptor 170, and speakers 195. The creditmeter 175 generally indicates the total number of credits remaining onthe gaming device 100 that are eligible to be wagered. The credit meter175 may reflect a monetary unit, such as dollars, or an amount ofcredits, which are related to a monetary unit, but may be easier todisplay. For example, one credit may equal one cent so that portion of adollar won can be displayed as a whole number instead of decimal. Thebill/ticket acceptor 170 typically recognizes and validates paper billsand/or printed tickets and causes the game processor 120 to display acorresponding amount on the credit meter 175. The speakers 195 playauditory signals in response to game play or may play enticing soundswhile in an “attract-mode,” when a player is not at the gaming device.The auditory signals may also convey information about the game, such asby playing a particularly festive sound when a large award is won.

The gaming device 100 may include various other devices to interact withplayers, such as light configurations, top box displays 190, andsecondary displays 180. The top box display 190 may include illuminatedartwork to announce a game style, a video display (such as an LCD), amechanical and/or electrical bonus display (such as a wheel), or otherknown top box devices. The secondary display 180 may be a vacuumfluorescent display (VFD), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode raytube (CRT), a plasma screen, or the like. The secondary display 180 mayshow any combination of primary game information and ancillaryinformation to the player. For example, the secondary display 180 mayshow player tracking information, secondary bonus information,advertisements, or player selectable game options. The secondary displaymay be attached to the game cabinet 105 or may be located near thegaming device 100. The secondary display 180 may also be a display thatis associated with multiple gaming devices 100, such as a bank-widebonus meter, or a common display for linked gaming devices.

In operation, typical play on a gaming device 100 commences with aplayer placing a wager on a game to generate a game outcome. In somegames, a player need not interact with the game after placing the wagerand initiating the game, while in other games, the player may beprompted to interact with the gaming device 100 during game play.Interaction between the player and the gaming device 100 is more commonduring bonuses, but may occur as part of the game, such as with videopoker. Play may continue on the gaming device 100 until a player decidesto cash out or until insufficient credits remain on the credit meter 175to place a minimum wager for the gaming device.

Communication between gaming devices, such as those described above, andother devices on gaming systems 2 (FIG. 1) is becoming increasingly morecomplex. The below-described system illustrates a system and method ofcommunication on modern and future gaming systems.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a MID 200, which may be an example of theMID 20 described with reference to FIG. 1 above. The MID 200 includes aset of processors 210, which in this example are termed SAS processors.These SAS processors are capable of accepting, manipulating, andoutputting data on a SAS protocol network.

The MID 200 is capable of communicating using other communicationprotocols as well, as described below. Each processor 210 is structuredto couple to two Electronic Gaming Devices (EGDs). EGDs may include, forexample, gaming devices such as EGM 10 of FIG. 1, or other electronicgaming devices. In the illustrated embodiment, each SAS processor 210includes two ports, A and B, each of which may be coupled to an EGD. Inturn, the two ports A and B are attached to a set of physicalconnectors, illustrated here as a single connector 240 for convenienceof explanation. Each section of the physical connector 240, delineatedby dotted lines, includes three separate pairs of communication lines.Each pair of communication lines is illustrated as a single line—a firstserial pair labeled EGD, a second serial pair labeled SYS, and a thirdcommunication pair that uses two-wire communication, labeled TWI. Notethat each of the ports A and B of the SAS processor 210 includes allthree communication pairs. Additionally each of the sections of thephysical connector 240 includes wires for a voltage and groundreference, though not depicted in FIG. 3A. In an embodiment of the MID200 with four SAS processors 210, the physical connector 240 includes upto eight sections, each of which may be embodied by a separate,standard, RJ-45 connector to couple to a matching RJ-45 port in theconnected EGM 10, or EGD, as determined by the specific implementation.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the first serial pair of Port A couples toEGD. The second serial pair may be coupled to external devices connectedto the EGD, as needed. Specifically, some serial data protocols, such asSAS, do not allow EGMs 10 to interface with multiple external devicesover a single serial communication path. Such external devices mayinclude, for example, player tracking systems and accounting systems. Ifa particular EGM 10 is already connected to such a system, and thus itsSAS port is “full,” the MID 200, and in particular a SAS processor 210,may insert itself “between” the connected system and the EGM 10 by usingboth of the serial pairs in a particular port of the SAS processor 210to couple to the EGM 10 and the other connected system, respectively. Inoperation, the MID 200, through the respective SAS processor 210, passesany information directed from the external device coupled to the SYScommunication lines in a particular port to the EGD of the same port, orvice-versa, in real time and without interruption. For example, polls,requests for information, and transmission of information are passedfrom a connected player tracking system, through the SYS lines of Port Ato the serial line EGD of Port A. Only a small communication delay isadded using such a communication system, which is well within thetolerance limits of SAS protocol. As a result, both the EGM 10 andexternal system behave as if the MID 200 were not present.

Further, the third communication pair, a two-wire interface labeled TWI,presents opportunity for expansion to future systems installed on theEGM 10, or a new EGM, so that any data may be communicated between theEGM 10 and the MID 200. The TWI may be connected to card readers, topboxes, ticket dispensers, lighting panels, etc. that are coupled to orwork in conjunction with an EGM 10.

Besides simply passing information between communication interfaces, theMID 200 also generates information directly for connected EGDs, whichmay originate from the MID 200 or from another device as describedbelow. In such a case the SAS processor 210 sends the appropriate datathrough its appropriate serial line or two-wire interface directly tothe desired EGD. Then the EGD may send its own data to its connectedperipheral.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, the MID 200 additionally includes acommunication processor 220, labeled as COMM processor. Thecommunication processor 220 is coupled to each of the SAS processors210, a program/debug circuit 230, and to a bonus controller 40 (FIG. 1).In practice, the communication processor 220 may be embodied by a smallmicroprocessor, such as the Atmel ATXMEGA256A3, which is readilyavailable to developers, or any other processor or system capable ofperforming the desired communication functions.

The communication processor 220 collects and aggregates information fromthe EGDs that are coupled to each of the SAS processors 210 and sendsthe aggregated information to the bonus controller 40 of FIG. 1. In someembodiments the communication processor 220 is coupled to the bonuscontroller 40 through an Ethernet interface. The communication processoris structured to parse information from Ethernet data packets andcollect it for use by other systems within the MID 200. Because Ethernetis an addressed protocol, by which messages may be sent to a particularEthernet address, the communication processor 220 also includes anaddress of the Ethernet device in a MAC ID 222.

The communication processor 220 may also accept information from thebonus controller 40, or other connected devices, and pass suchinformation to the EGDs coupled to the SAS processors 210. Theinformation may include data, instructions, or commands, for instance.

A memory 224, which may be, for instance Ferroelectric Random AccessMemory (FRAM) capable of retaining stored contents for over 10 years maybe used by the communication processor for both program and datastorage. Of course, other memory technologies may be used instead of orin addition to FRAM.

A program/debug circuit 230 in the MID 200 connects to the communicationprocessor 220 as well as to each of the SAS processors 210. Duringmanufacture of the MID 200, the programming functions of theprogram/debug circuit 230 load program code to each of the SASprocessors 210 as well as the communication processor 220. This initialloading may take place through a program/debug communication port.Further, the program codes stored in each of the SAS processors 210 andthe communication processor 230 may be updated through commands and datasent from an external device, such as the bonus controller 40, throughthe communication processor 220 to the program/debug circuit 230. Theprogram/debug circuit 230 then formats the updated program data for eachof the connected SAS processors 210 and communication processor 220, andsends a command to each of the processors to be updated to load the newprogram code.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram of one of the SAS processors 210 of FIG. 3A,which shows additional detail of the SAS processor.

As described above, each of the SAS processors 210 include two separateports, Port A and Port B, illustrated here as separate ports of amicroprocessor 260. The microprocessor 260 in the SAS processor 210 maybe embodied by an Atmel ATXMEGA256A3, as described above.

Each of the ports of the microprocessor 260 is structured to couple toan EGD, which may be an EGM 10 of FIG. 1. Each port of themicroprocessor 260 includes two serial connections, which in the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3B, are RS-232 ports common in thecomputing industry. The RS-232 ports are contained in an RS-232interface 270, 275, one for each port of the microprocessor 260. Each ofthe interfaces 270, 275 includes two separate RS-232 ports, each ofwhich uses a separate transmit and receive wire. Thus, each interface270, 275 includes a total of four wires. It is convenient to includeRS-232 ports as the preferred mode of communication because it is thestandard interface for SAS ports of the EGMs 10. In non-standard EGMs10, such as very old or future devices that may not include SAS ports,communication ports other than RS-232 may be used simply by exchangingor updating the RS-232 interfaces 270, 275. Another possibility is toinclude an RS-232 translator in any EGM 10 that does not include its ownRS-232 interface. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, and as described above, thefirst of the serial connections, labeled EGD, is connected to an EGD forthe particular port of the microprocessor 260, while the second serialconnection, labeled SYS is connected to external devices that may becoupled to the particular EGD.

Additionally, and as described above, each SAS processor 210 includestwo, two-wire interfaces, illustrated as a separate interface pair andlabeled as TWI. In this embodiment, there is one pair for each port ofthe microprocessor 260. Each two-wire interface creates a bi-directionalserial port that may be used for communicating with peripheral orexpansion devices associated with the EGD of the particularmicroprocessor 260, or with other devices on the gaming system 2 of FIG.1.

The SAS processor 210 includes a memory 280 for storing instruction dataof the microprocessor 260 as well as providing data storage used by theSAS processor. The memory 280 is preferably non-volatile memory, such asFRAM that is connected to the microprocessor 260 through a serialinterface.

As described above, the SAS processor 210 of the MIB 200 (FIG. 3A)includes multiple connections to other components in the MIB 200, whichare illustrated in detail in FIG. 3B. Initially, each SAS processor 210is coupled to each of the other SAS processors 210 in the MIB 200. Inpractice, this may accomplished by a direct connection, in which eachmicroprocessor 260 is directly coupled to one another, or suchconnection may be an indirect connection. In an indirect connection, themicroprocessors 260 of each SAS processor 210 is coupled to thecommunication processor 220 (FIG. 3A). Any data or information to beshared between SAS processors 210 is then originated by or passedthrough the communication processor 220 to the other SAS processors.

Similarly, as described above, the microprocessor 260 of each SASprocessor 210 is coupled to a program/debug circuit 230 for initial orlater programming. To communicate with each SAS processor 210individually, each SAS processor is given an individual identificationnumber, which may be set for the microprocessor 260 by tying particulardata pins of the microprocessor to permanent low or high signals. Usingbinary encoding, n individual lines are used to identify 2n separateprocessors. A set of expansion pins couples to the microprocessor 260 ofeach SAS processor 210 so that each processor may determine systemidentification and revisions of the MIB 200 and the connected bonuscontroller 40.

With reference back to FIG. 1, recall that the bonus controller 40couples to each of the MIDs 200, and by extension to their coupled EGDs,such as EGMs 10, and possibly to one or more EGMs themselves, to causedata and commands to be sent to the EGMs to control functions on eachEGM. FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of such a bonus controller,according to embodiments of the invention.

A bonus controller 300 of FIG. 4 may be an embodiment of the bonuscontroller 40 illustrated in FIG. 1. Central to the bonus controller 300is a microprocessor 310, which may be an Atmel AT91SAM9G20, which isreadily available to developers. The microprocessor 310 is coupled toone or more memory systems 320, 325. A memory system 320 is a 2 MegabyteFRAM while memory system 325 is a 64 Megabyte Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).Each memory system 320, 325 has various advantages and properties and ischosen for those properties. FRAM maintains its data autonomously for upto ten years, while SDRAM is relatively fast to move data into and outof, as well as being relatively inexpensive. Of course, the sizes andtypes of memory included in any bonus controller according toembodiments of the invention may be determined by the particularimplementation.

The microprocessor 310 also couples to a pair of card readers, 340, 345,which are structured to accept easily replaceable, portable memorycards, as are widely known. Each card reader may further includeElectro-Static Discharge (ESD) devices to prevent damage to internalcircuitry, such as the microprocessor 310, when cards are inserted orremoved from the card readers 340, 345. In practice, a card in one ofthe card readers 340, 345 may store program code for the microprocessor310 while a card in the other reader may store data for use by the bonuscontroller 300. Alternatively a single card in either of the cardreaders 340, 345 may store both program and data information.

A port connector 330 includes multiple communication ports forcommunicating with other devices. With reference back to FIG. 3A, thecommunication processor of each MID 200 couples to a connected bonuscontroller through such a communication port. The communication port 330is preferably an Ethernet interface, as described above, and thereforeadditionally includes a MAC address 331. The port connector 330 includesmultiple separate connectors, such as eight, each of which connect to asingle MID 20 (FIG. 1), which in turn connects to up to eight separateEGMs 10. Thus, a single bonus controller 300 may couple to sixty-fourseparate EGMs by connecting through appropriately connected MIDs.

Further, a second port connector 335 may be included in the bonuscontroller 300. The second port connector may also be an Ethernetconnector. The purpose of the second port connector 335 is to allowadditionally connectivity to the bonus controller 300. In mostembodiments the second port connector 335 may couple to another bonuscontroller 300 or to other server devices, such as the server 60 on thegaming network 50 of FIG. 1. In practice, the second port connector 335may additionally be coupled to a MID 20, thus providing the bonuscontroller 300 with the ability to directly connect to nine MIDs 20.

Yet further, Ethernet connections are easily replicated with a switch,external to the bonus controller 300 itself, which may be used togreatly expand the number of devices to which the bonus controller 300may connect.

Because the bonus controller 300 is intended to be present on a gamingnetwork 50, and may be exposed to the general public, systems to protectthe integrity of the bonus controller 300 are included. An intrusiondetection circuit 360 signals the processor 310 if a cabinet or housingthat contains the bonus controller 300 is breached, even if no power issupplied to the bonus controller 300. The intrusion detection circuitmay include a magnetic switch that closes (or opens) when a breachoccurs. The microprocessor 310 then generates a signal that may bedetected on the gaming network 50 indicating that such a breachoccurred, so that an appropriate response may be made. An on-board powercircuit 370 may provide power to the bonus controller 300 for arelatively long time, such as a day or more, so that any data generatedby the processor 310 is preserved and so that the processor 310 maycontinue to function, even when no external power is applied. Theon-board power circuit 370 may include an energy-storing material suchas a battery or a large and/or efficient capacitor.

Similar to the microprocessor processor 260 of the SAS processor 210described above, the microprocessor 310 of the bonus controller 300 isadditionally coupled to a program/debug port for initially programmingthe microprocessor 310 during production, and so that program and/orother data for the microprocessor may be updated through theprogram/debug port.

In operation the bonus controller 300 configures and controls bonusfeatures on gaming devices through a gaming network 50 or through othercommunication systems. Bonus features are implemented through eachgaming device's internal structure and capabilities, and may includeintegration with additional peripheral devices. Bonusing programs forthe connected games may be introduced to the bonus controller 300 byupdating data stored in the memory systems directly on the bonuscontroller, or by inserting new memory cards in one or more of the cardreaders 340, 345. Such a platform provides a facility for gamedevelopers, even third-party developers, to define and program new typesof bonus games that may be used in conjunction with existing EGMs onexisting gaming networks, or on new games and new networks as they aredeveloped.

The term casino, as used within this description, signifies any entitythat operates gambling games, including on-line casinos, bricks andmortar, casinos, racinos, lottery locations, etc. A gambling game is onewhere something of value is wagered on a chance to win an award ofgreater value.

The term gambler, as used in this description, indicates any person whomay legally gamble. This includes persons that already gamble andpersons who do not currently gamble but may be enticed to do so.

The use of Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) is rapidly gainingpopularity. Such devices include computers, mobile phones, smart phones,personal data assistants or other such instruments. Many, though notall, of these devices are small enough to be easily carried withoutundue effort.

A PED, whether personally owned by the gambler, or simply loaned to thegambler by the casino, may be used as an efficient and effectivecommunications channel for bonuses, information, and services. Thiscommunications channel is useful for gamblers within, and outside, thecasino. Gamblers already on a casino property can use the PEDs to findthe most appropriate games to play, while also gaining personalizedaccess to information about bonuses and services the casino offers.

Example PEDs include such devices as the iTOUCH, iPHONE and iPAD ofApple, Inc., the BLACKBERRY of Research in Motion, the 'DROID ofMotorola, netbooks, personal computers, personal music players, such asthe iTOUCH and iPOD of Apple Inc., and other device equipped with atleast one communications medium. The PED may include custom programsoftware contained within it to implement aspects of the invention. Thiscustom program may be executed alone on the PED, or in a multi-taskingenvironment wherein it shares the PED resources with other applications.

Many embodiments of this invention may be implemented as web pages. Insuch a case, no custom program software is required on the PED asvirtually all modern PEDs include or are able to acquire one or more webbrowsers. A PED user could simply enter the appropriate web or locatingaddress and view information as a web page or a series of web pages.

When security is needed, the web pages could be implemented as secureweb pages. Whether a custom software or a web browser is used, each usercould be assigned a user ID and password or PIN to enhance security andto direct the PED to information specific to that user.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an example PED according toembodiments of the invention. The PED 400 of FIG. 5 includes a varietyof illustrated functions, although all of the functions are notnecessary to be present in every PED device that operates according toembodiments of the invention.

The PED 400 includes a processor 410 that couples to many of the otherfunctional components of the PED, either directly or indirectly. In FIG.5 some of the connection lines between components are omitted forclarity, but each component portion may communicate with any otherportion, either directly or through a communication path, which mayinclude the processor 410.

The processor 410 generally runs information software 420 to processinformation according to embodiments of the invention and communicate itto the user. The information software 420 may operate alone or inconjunction with other programs 422 operating on the PED 400 as well.One such program may include a web browser 424, which may include itsown security module 425 within. In operation, a user may have toauthenticate himself or herself, as described below, to accessinformation on the web page or secure web page.

The PED 400 includes several input/output devices, such as a displayprocessor 430, which may be connected to a touch screen or other type ofdisplay screen 432. Input can be received from the user from a keyboard440, pointer or trackball 442, or accelerator 444 such as by tipping,shaking, or moving the PED 400. Additionally the PED 400 may includeimaging devices, such as a still camera 450 or video camera 452.

The PED 400 may be able to determine its own location using a GPSlocator 460, which may also or instead use cell phone tower or otherlocating mechanisms. The GPS locator 460 may periodically broadcast thelocation of the PED 400, or may always act in a receiving mode only.

To identify each PED 400, as well as a user of such a PED, the PEDincludes an ID facility 470, which are typically permanent andnon-modifiable, as is known in the art.

Each PED 400 includes a radio 480, which is used to transmit and receiveinformation from other portions of the gaming system 2 of FIG. 1, asdescribed herein.

In operation, the PED, such as the PED 400, could be used to simplydisplay visual and/or audio information or the implementation could beinteractive with the user selecting options or providing informationthrough the device's touch screen 432, track ball 442 or keyboard 440.Other forms of user input include gestures, such as tipping the PED 400in one direction, as sensed by the accelerator 444. The PED 400 may besensitive to voice or other commands. In some applications, the PEDsbuilt-in camera 450 or video recorder 452 can be used. In someapplications, the PEDs built-in location sensing technology 460 could beused to determine where the user is and what options and offers to makeavailable to them based upon that location information.

Gamblers located outside the casino receive personalized contextualinformation concerning game statuses, bonuses and services that they'llenjoy and that will make them more likely to again visit the casinoproperty.

The PEDs 400 used in embodiments of the invention communicate withcomponents of the gaming system 2 (FIG. 1) using a variety of differenttypes of wired and/or wireless communications. For instance, withreference to FIG. 6A, in a simple embodiment the PED 400 is directlywired to a server 500, which is coupled to the gaming network 50 ofFIG. 1. Examples of such wired networks can include serial communicationand/or parallel communication using a variety of protocols, such asEthernet or other protocols appropriate for the application. Withreference to FIG. 6B, the communication medium between the server 500and PED 400 could be a cell phone voice or data communication system,such as 3G, 4G, or LTE, for example. Using such a communication medium,information sets can be sent between the gaming system 2, through theserver 500, and PED 400 in the form of Web pages, SMS, MMS, Voice phonecalls, and/or program data, for example. Other forms of communication,as illustrated in FIG. 6C may include wireless internet, such as Wi-Fi,Secure Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, and other wireless methods of communication.Because the internet is pervasive, and continuously growing, futureprotocols will likely be developed for communicating over existing IPnetworks such as illustrated in FIG. 6C. Such wireless IP networks maycarry information sets between the Server 500 and PED 400 in the form ofEmail, file transfer, Instant Message, SKYPE, AOL, Microsoft, Twitter,Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, as well as other social networks, forexample. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6D, other wirelesscommunication methods may be employed to communicate between the server500 and PED 400 using protocols such as Bluetooth, Wireless USB, andZigbee, for example. Other forms of communication may include near-fieldmagnetic or infra-red systems, for example.

Each communication medium has strengths and weaknesses within eachapplication as will be described below. Further, any communicationsmedium may be used in conjunction with other communications mediums aswell as with the Internet or other such network, in order to accomplishthe transfer of information.

Of course PED devices 400, and the communications mediums they support,will evolve as technology advances and all such PEDs and communicationsmediums may be useful with this invention.

In general, information is communicated between the gaming system 2 ofFIG. 1 and the PED 400 according to embodiments of the invention usinginformation sets.

Information sets may be composed of any information of interest, orpotential interest to a gambler. This information may relate to a bonus,a gambling game, a bonus game, a casino, a group of casinos, a loyaltyclub, play inducement, or an amenity such as a restaurant, a show, ahotel room, a gift shop, etc.

An information set may include information already available at specificlocations. In this case, presenting that information in a consolidatedform to the gambler via the PED 400 provides convenience to the gambler.An information set may also include information of not generallyavailable by other means or not available at all by other means. Inthese cases, presenting the information via the PED 400 gives thegambler a perceived advantage over other gamblers.

Examples of information sets include, but are not limited to:Information about gambling games, including the quantity, location andconfiguration of specific games, as well as information about historicaland current performance on the game. An example information set maystate:

-   -   7 Blackjack tables located in the south casino floor area. 18        currently open. 2 tables have bet limits of $5 to $200, 4 tables        have bet limits of 20 to $1,000 and 1 table have bet limits of        $100 to $5,000.

Additional information, such as a map of the casino showing the locationof the table games, a list or map of how many gamblers are activelyplaying at each table, bet size of each gambler, whether each player iswinning or losing, dealer identity, whether the dealer is winning orlosing, type of shuffler used at the table, table configuration such asnumber of decks dealt, house rules for the area or specific table, etc.may also be made available.

An information specific to gaming machines may state:

-   -   27 “Reel 'em In” slot machines total. 15 are located in area 5        and 12 are located in area 7. 9 are configured as penny games,        11 as nickel games and 7 as dollar games.

Additional information, such as a map of the casino showing the specificlocation of each game, a list or map showing which games are currentlyplayed, which players are winning and losing, the historical wins andlosses for each game, a list, including jackpot size and time/date wonof all jackpots over $500 hit at each game, when the machine was lastentered by a service technician, theoretical par percentage, gameperformance in comparison to theoretical par, etc. may also bepresented.

Information sets about bonuses may also be presented. For example, alist of all progressive jackpots, including current jackpot values,jackpot starting values, jackpot limits, increment rates, history of allprogressive jackpots won, including time, date, amount winning gambleridentification and/or photo, personal information about the winninggambler, duration of time the gambler played before striking theprogressive jackpot, amount of money the winning gambler spent beforewinning the progressive jackpot, etc.

If the progressive jackpot is a mystery award, the odds of winningand/or the win proximity or likelihood of winning may be included in theinformation set as described in U.S. patent applications Ser. No.12/389,309, filed Feb. 19, 2009, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FORSELECTIVELY INDICATING WIN PROBABILITY, and Ser. No. 12/037,206,entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING WIN PROXIMITY, filed Feb.27, 2008, which are herein incorporated by reference.

Other bonuses, including bonus games may be presented as informationsets. When the information set is a bonus game, the gambler couldinteract with the bonus using the keyboard 440, touch screen 432,gesture recording using the accelerator 444, voice input, telephonefeature, texting feature, website access or physical movement of the PED400 to make selections, control the bonus game or otherwise interact.

Other information set examples include status of availability of hotelroom for check-in, seating at a show, seating at a restaurant oravailability of other entertainment or service. Such information setsmay be sent only to specific gamblers or groups of gamblers.

Information sets may be too complex for presentation in a single displayor message. Gamblers may use the aforementioned PED 400 interfaces tonavigate through a selection system, such as a menu, to find theinformation of interest.

Alternately, personal information about the gambler, whether derivedfrom the gambler himself or herself, from observation of prior playpatterns of the gambler or from demographic or psychographic about thegambler, including information derived from information about othergamblers with similar characteristics, is used to present the gamblerwith specific information sets or subsets of information sets.

In one embodiment, not all information is available to all gamblers.Some information sets may be available only to loyalty club members,those members who have acquired over a minimum amount of points, newvisitors, members of a junket, paying subscribers or other suchqualifications.

Some information sets may be available only while within the casino orother defined space. For example, in some circumstances it may beillegal to gamble, or receive certain gambling information, acrossinterstate lines. In these cases, certain information sets may be madeavailable only to gamblers within a state boundary.

Other forms of bonuses may include, player club promotions, drawings andspecial offers such as match play or free play.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram illustrating components of a gaming systemthat can be integrated with or additional to those of FIG. 1. In FIG. 7,an information set (IS) server 610 is coupled to an information setdatabase 620. The information set server 610 also couples to the gamingnetwork 50 of FIG. 1, and thus can communicate with each devicethroughout the gaming system 2, including the MID 20 and bonuscontroller 40. In some embodiments each MID 20 may connect to a gamingdevice 10 or gambling machine through a Bluetooth interface. The ISserver is also connected to the loyalty club server along with databaseof gambling machine information (game type, location, configuration,etc.) The IS server 610 is also connected to a secure wirelessdistribution device 630, which may be an example of the communicationserver 500 illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6D. In other words, the distributiondevice 630 may communicate to PEDs 400, as well as to a kiosk 640, whichmay be an example of the kiosk 14 of FIG. 1 and a player club terminal650 through communication networks such as those described above,including a Wi-Fi network, public telephone network (perhaps viaInternet), and to the public SMS and MMS messaging system. The Internetconnection is linked to Facebook and other social services sites, aswell as twitter. The Internet connection is also linked to externaldemographic and psychographic databases for evaluating players. TheInternet connection is also linked to external websites such as Expedia.

The IS server 610 is connected to the casino's data warehouse analysissystem and to the casino host/customer service interface system, whichmay be present on the servers 60 and databases 70 of FIG. 1. The ISserver 610 is also connected to hotel reservation system, restaurants,showroom systems, bonus servers (such as a progressive jackpot server),gambling game servers, etc. The IS server 610 is also connected to tablegames through their host management systems.

While in a casino, the gambler's PED 400 device is connected to the ISserver 610 through WiFi and an external WAN, such as wireless telephoneand wireless data networks. Outside the casino area, the PED 400 may beconnected to the Internet and telephone systems through the WAN, wirednetwork or wireless network including Wi-Fi. Transition between variouswireless communication systems is seamless to the user of the PED 400.

Data within the information set, and data transferred to identify andqualify the PED 400 to acquire or interact with information sets may beencrypted or unencrypted, in accordance with the value andconfidentiality of the data being transferred.

A PED 400 may be concurrently associated with one or more informationsets. Specific associations may be temporary or permanent and newassociations may be added in addition to, or in place of existingassociations.

Each PED 400 is assigned one or more identifiers. These identifiers maybe based upon an internal unique identifier 470 built into the PED. Forexample, many electronic processor or peripheral chips include apermanent identifier stored within the chip. Many PEDs 400 are builtwith identifier chips installed for the specific purpose of providing anidentifier. Unique identifiers may also be provided by inserted memorycard, such as a telephone SIM card, an SD memory card or an MMC card inor associated with a PED 400. Unique identifiers may also be derivedfrom identifiers used for network purposes, including MAC address, IPaddress, or telephone number.

When program code is loaded within a PED 400, a unique identifier may beplaced within that code, or the program code may allow the gambler, orthe casino, to enter a unique identifier.

When an information set requires security, such as when the informationset is a gambling game, or involves the act of wagering or transfer ofvalue, a secure phrase, such as a security code, password, PIN number,etc. may be required as well. In such cases, the secure phrase is heldby the gambler using the PED 400 and must be input into the PED in orderto fully access an information set.

In another embodiment, a gambler may be given a user ID as a uniqueidentifier. In that case, the gambler may log onto any desired PED 400by inputting his or her user ID and the optionally required securephrase. In this embodiment, the user ID is associated with theinformation set. The gambler may disassociate the user ID from a PED 400by logging off.

An association between a PED 400 and an information set may lastindefinitely, for a fixed period of time, until the gambler or thecasino chooses to terminate the association or until an event or asequence of events occurs.

A PED that has been associated with an information set may be carried bya gambler as a personal device or may be attached, temporarily orpermanently, to a gambling game or other location for use by any gamblerin close proximity to the PED.

As mentioned above, some information sets may be available to anygambler with access to a PED 400. Other information sets may requirepayment or subscription in order to access. Still other information setsmay require qualification by the gambler prior to access. For example,the gambler may be required to join the player loyalty club, to achievea certain level in a player loyalty club, to have gambled at aparticular level in the past, to meet criteria for estimated capacity togamble or other such qualifications. These qualifications can be storedin a database on the gaming system 2 and associated with specific PED400 identifiers and/or player identifiers in such a way that onlygamblers with qualifying identifiers are allowed to access theinformation sets.

The gambler's location may also be used as a qualifier for accessing aninformation set. For example, information sets containing gambling gamesmay only be accessible from within the physical confines of the casinooffering the games.

One embodiment of this invention only allows information sets for suchgambling games to be accessible through the WiFi network located withinthe casino. A gambler outside the casino could not access suchinformation sets.

Another embodiment uses the geo-location services contained within a PED400 to determine if the gambler is in a qualifying physical location.Such geo-location services may include a GPS or location determinationby triangulation from cell towers in communication with the PED, IPaddress of the PED or other such means whether used separately or inconjunction with other geo-locating services.

In another embodiment, location can be determined by user input. Theuser may optionally be required to certify the location information,whether obtained from geo-location services or from user input, iscorrect.

The PED 400 is an excellent platform for implementation of bonuses forgamblers. The below description describes how the PED 400 may be used toimplement the above-reference bonus described in the patent applicationentitled SYSTEM FOR TRADE-IN BONUS.

In the trade-in bonus game, a gambler earns points by discarding certainpairs of dealt cards according to the following schedule and rules:

Points Discard 1 Any two cards of rank Jack, Queen King or Ace 2 Anypair below rank of Jack 3 Any Jacks or Better Pair

Points are awarded on a per credit wagered basis. Trading in a pair ofjacks with two credits wagered earns 6 points, for example. The samepair traded with five credits wagered earns 15 points. Importantly,gamblers are free to follow normal game strategy, i.e., not trade in anycards, if they wish, but are ineligible to win bonuses unless requiredtrades are made.

In this embodiment, whenever 15 points are accumulated, the points areautomatically traded for an entry card which is randomly selected from adeck of 52 cards. Gamblers who earn sufficient points may hold multipleentry cards.

At 5 minute intervals, a bonus drawing is held and a card is randomlydrawn from another deck of 52 cards. Any player with an entry card winsa bonus. In this case, the bonus is doubled payment of any hand with astraight, a flush, a straight flush or a royal flush that occurs withinthe next 50 games played.

In this example, a PED 400 is associated with a specific gaming machine,which in this instance is an IGT Game King machine. The PED 400 may bemounted directly on the gaming machine and communicate to the gamingmachine through the MID 20 as described above. For instance, the MID 20can connect to the PED 400 through a wired or wireless communicationchannel. With reference to FIG. 1, the gaming machine may be a gamingdevice 10, for example. The game is presumed to include the ability tocommunicate information about game state at two points of game play. Thefirst point for communication is after the wager has been made and theinitial cards are dealt to the gambler. At that time the game informsthe PED 400 of wager amount and identity of drawn cards. The secondpoint for communication is when the gambler selects the discards andpresses “draw.” At that time the game replaces discards with new cards.If the resulting hand is a winning hand, the game pays the gambler theamount won. The game then informs the PED 400 of the identity of finalcards in hand and amount won.

The Game King machine is equipped with a serial port, which is used tocommunicate game accounting and state information. Game Kings aretypically equipped to utilize the SAS protocol, over the serial port andthat protocol includes sufficient information to resolve and report bothrequired game states. Of course, an alternative serial protocol could beused if desired. Also, newer games that support the Gaming StandardsAssociation, or GSA, protocol are available. The GSA protocol uses anEthernet port to carry game state information. In the case of the GSAprotocol, the MID 20 could be omitted and each game directly connected,or connected via Ethernet switch 30 or hub, to the bonus controller 40.The exact means of communicating game states is unimportant to thisinvention, so long as the desired game states are reported in a timelyand reliable manner.

In the embodiment described here, the described portions of the networkinclude a Game King with a serial port running the SAS protocol, as wellas a MID 20 and bonus controller 40 passing communication between the ISserver 610 and the Game King machine. One of skill in the art ofgambling machine systems understands there are many additionalcomponents to the gaming network as well as knows that there arealternative ways of achieving such communication that are useful withthis invention.

The IS server 610 may be implemented on computer hardware dedicated tothe purpose or, for smaller systems, the IS server function could becarried out as a process that resides on the bonus controller 40. Inthis example, the IS server function is described as carried out on thebonus controller 40, but in other embodiments could be implemented as astand-alone server, as illustrated in FIG. 7, and connected to PEDs 400through the wireless distribution device 630. In short, the IS serverfunction could operate on any appropriate device connected to the gamingnetwork 50.

In this example, a separate PED 400, consisting on an Apple iTouchdevice, set to execute a custom application program, is permanentlyassociated with each gambling machine within the IS server 610 processby using the PED's permanently assigned IP address. This associationallows the IS server 610 to forward game state information from thegambling machine to its associated PED 400. The PED 400 is mounted onthe gaming machine, such as the gaming device 10 of FIG. 1, inside anenclosure which prevents theft and unauthorized modification. Theenclosure also contains a small audio speaker and amplifier connected tothe audio output of the iTouch. Audio circuitry is provided to allowreinforcing sounds to accompany each visual screen. For clarity ofexplanation, audio content is not described in this example.

While the PED 400 is capable of sending information to its associatedgambling machine, in this example, the PED is used simply as a displaydevice. All communication to the gambling machine originates from the ISserver 610. This arrangement simplifies PED 400 programming.

Also, since the PED 400 is located near the gambling machine so it isviewable by the gambler, there is always a risk of unauthorized accessto the PED. A knowledgeable hacker might be able to make unauthorizedchanges to the PED programming and cause undesired results such asunauthorized payouts. By causing all messages to the gambling machine tooriginate at the IS server 610, and by locating the IS server in asecure location, such risk is greatly reduced. If circumstances require,some or all of the messages to a gambling machine could originate fromthe PED 400.

In this example, play has already occurred at the gambling machine butno game is currently underway. In this state, the PED 400 displays asummary screen 710 as depicted in FIG. 8A. In practice the summaryscreen 710 may be generated by the display processor 430 of FIG. 5 anddisplayed on the PED 400. The summary screen 710 displays bonus gamesremaining, points earned, countdown time until next bonus drawing and achart showing entry cards acquired during the current round. In thisexample, accumulated entry cards are: 3 of spades, Jack of clubs, 5 ofdiamonds and 9 & 10 of hearts. This information was sent to the PED 400from the IS server 610 at the end of the last game played, in the formof a status message, as will be described later.

When the gambler makes a new wager and presses deal, he is presentedwith a discard screen on the gambling machine. Simultaneously, a messagedescribing the wager amount and deal hand is sent from the gamblingmachine to the IS server 610, which in turn sends a message to the PED400 in the following example format:

-   -   D,3,1,2,JH,QD,3S,5S,7C,0,12,X        Where D indicates the discard screen is to be displayed, 3        indicates 3 points which can be earned. The next two data values        1,2, indicates cards 1 and 2 are eligible for the trade-in bonus        and 3 indicates the total points awarded if the trade-in is        made. If no trade-in bonus is available, these three values are        sent as 0,0,0. Next are the dealt card values for each position        1-5, in order. JH, QD, 3S, 5S, 7C, meaning jack of hearts, queen        of diamonds, 3 of spades, 5 of spades and 7 of clubs. 0 is bonus        games remaining and 12 is point balance. The last value, X,        indicates end of message.

In this embodiment, all messages are sent using ASCII values, thus thefirst message value, D, is sent as a single byte of hex value 044H. Ofcourse, alternative message formats may be used. Some elements of thisbonus game are linked to a number of gambling machines, and each has anassociated PED 400. Each PED 400 is identified by a unique address, inthis example the IP address of the PED is used. For clarity ofexplanation, the address mechanism is omitted from these examples. Thoseof skill in the art of gambling machine system design already understandhow such addressing mechanisms function.

Using data from this message, the PED 400 displays the dealt cards butalso shows the gambler which discards may be made to earn points. FIG.8B depicts an example of a discard screen 720 using communicating thisto the player. In this example, 3 credits were wagered and the cardsdealt are Jack of hearts, Queen of diamonds, 3 of spades, 5 of spadesand 7 of clubs. If the gambler discards the Jack of Hearts and Queen ofDiamonds, he earns 1 point for every credit wagered, or 3 points total.

In this example the gambler discards the Jack of Hearts and Queen ofDiamonds, and the gambling machine draws new cards to replace thediscards, presents the final hand and pays any award that results. Amessage describing the game result, including final card values andamount paid is sent by the gambling machine to the IS server 610.

The IS server 610 then determines that an eligible discard was made andadds 3 points to the player's total bonus point value, bringing thetotal points value to 15. As that is enough to earn a new entry card,the IS server randomly selects a new entry card, in this case a 9 ofdiamonds, and sends an award message to the PED 400 as follows:

-   -   A,5D,X

The first value, A, indicates to the PED 400 that this is an Awardmessage and an award screen should be displayed. 5D indicates the awardcard value and X indicates the end of message.

The PED 400 then presents an animated selection sequence (not shown) toindicate a new entry card was randomly selected and displays itsvalue—in this case a 5 of diamonds.

Immediately after sending the just-described award message, the ISserver 610 sends a status message to the PED in the format of:

-   -   S,3S,JC,5D,9H,10H,0,0,X        The first value, S, tells the PED 400 application to display the        status screen. Next are values 3S, JC, 5D, 9H, 10H which        represent entry cards 3 of Spades, Jack of Clubs, 5 of Diamonds,        9 of Hearts and 10 of hearts respectively. The next two values,        0, 0 indicate zero points have been earned (since all prior        points were converted to a new entry card and 0 bonus games        remain. The last value, X, indicates the end of message.

Based upon this message, the PED 400 displays a status screen 730 asillustrated in FIG. 8C. Note this is the same screen as FIG. 8A exceptthe newest entry card, 5 of diamonds, is now represented.

The bonus countdown value, illustrated at 732, begins at 5 minutes andzero seconds, then counts down to 0 seconds, at which point a bonus gamebegins. The countdown value is broadcast by the IS server 610 to eachattached PED 400 at regular intervals. In this example, the interval isonce every minute, though other intervals may be used. The countdownvalue is updated by the application program with the PED at one secondintervals.

When the bonus countdown reaches zero, a bonus game begins. The bonusgame randomly selects a single card from a deck of 52 cards and iscommon to all connected gambling machines and associated PEDs.

Random selection of the bonus card is carried out by the IS server 610.Once the bonus card value is selected, the IS server 610 compares theentry cards assigned to each connected gambling game. The IS server 610awards any game with an entry card that matches the selected bonus carda bonus award and clears all entry cards held by all games. Thecountdown clock is reset to 5 minutes. Point balances remain unchangedand the bonus game process begins anew.

In this example, a bonus award entitles the gambler to 50 games in whichany win of a straight, flush, straight flush or royal flush is doubled.The award process begins when the IS server sends an award message to aPED in the following format:

-   -   A,50,X        The first data value of “A” specifies an award message. The        value 50 indicates 50 bonus games. X indicate end of message.        Upon receipt of the award message, the PED 400 displays an award        screen 740 as shown in FIG. 8D. The screen simply notifies the        gambler that an award has occurred and reminds him of what the        award is.

The award screen is displayed by the PED 400 for a fixed period of time,typically 5 seconds. During this time the IS server 610 sends a statusmessage, which is displayed by the PED 400 as an updated status screen750, as illustrated in FIG. 8E, when the award screen 740 expires.

After each game play, a bonus games remaining counter, such as thatillustrated in FIG. 8E as 752, is decremented. When a qualifying winoccurs, it is detected by the IS server 610 from information sent by thegambling machine in the game results messages. When a qualifying awardis detected, the IS server 610 sends a message to the gambling machinetelling it to pay a specific amount to the player, over and above theamount paid by the gambling machine for the award. This amount isderived from the game results message received from the gamblingmachine. For example, a gambler wagers 5 credits and strikes a straightflush, which pays an award of 250 credits. This information is receivedby the IS server 610 in a game results message from the gamblingmachine. The IS server 610 determines the gambling machine is eligiblefor a bonus payment because bonus games remaining is >0. The IS server610 then sends a message telling the gambling machine to pay 250 creditsto its credit meter. Finally, the IS server decrements the bonus gamesremaining counter by 1.

Another role that a PED can play within a gaming system is that of a“jackpot detector” for a player. The term jackpot detector, as describedin detail below, is a generic label for a function of the PED in whichthe PED “detects” gaming devices that meet pre-established criteria, andis not limited to only jackpot criteria, notwithstanding the label.

In one embodiment, each gaming device, such as the gaming devices 910 ofFIG. 9 are each equipped with a communication port, such as a wirelesscommunication port 920. In a preferred embodiment, the wirelesscommunication port 920 may have limited range, for example less than4-12 inches, so as to not interfere with a wireless communication portof any other gaming device.

In practice, the communication port may use the well-known Bluetoothwireless protocol. A low-power class of Bluetooth transceiver has amaximum range of approximately 1 meter, which may be further attenuatedby directional antennas or other mechanisms to reduce the effectiverange of the wireless communication port 920. In practice, the wirelesscommunication port 920 may be installed directly on and controlled bythe gaming device 910, or may instead be driven by an attached MID 20(FIG. 1). Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the wirelesscommunication port may communicate directly with the TWI interfacewithin the physical port 240 of a SAS processor 210 coupled to thegaming device 910. Other example wireless communication methods caninclude use of the well-known Zigbee protocol, as well as near fieldmagnetic field communication, for instance.

In another embodiment, a PED 400 itself may be mounted to the gamingdevice 910, and a wireless transceiver on the PED 400 may function asboth a secondary (or tertiary) display and as the wireless communicationport 920. For instance, the radio 480 of PED 400 (FIG. 5) may providethe communication port to another PED carried by a player. As describedabove, the MID 20 may, in fact, drive the radio 480 of the PED 400 fromthe MID 20.

In practice, a player hoping to seek an advantage moves around a casinofloor with a PED 950, of FIG. 10A, which may be an implementation of thePED 400 of FIG. 5. The PED 950 runs a program, jackpot detector, thatdrives several components of the PED. One component is a wirelesstransceiver, which is used to communicate with the wirelesscommunication port 920 of one or more gaming devices 910. Anothercomponent of the PED 950 driven by the jackpot detector program is a PEDscreen 955, illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. The jackpot detectorprogram on the PED 950 helps the player select a particular gamingdevice 910 out of all the gaming devices on the casino floor.

A player walks the casino floor with the jackpot detector running on thePED 950 set to “look” for gaming devices 910 that match desiredcriteria. A PED 950 in such a “search” mode is illustrated in FIG. 10A.Criteria may be pre-determined or configured by the player. Commonmeasurements for specific criteria include number of games or timeelapsed. Common criteria include jackpots won, major awards won,consecutive wins or losses, etc. Combining the criteria with themeasurement, a player can select to be notified, by the jackpot detectorrunning on the PED 950 about particular gaming machines that have one ormore qualities sought by the player, such as:

-   -   More/fewer than “n” games since a Jackpot has been won    -   Longer than/shorter than “x” time since a Jackpot has been won    -   More/fewer than “n” games since a particular major award won    -   Longer than/shorter than “x” time since a particular major award        won    -   More/fewer than “n” successive wins over/under threshold “x”    -   Longer than/shorter than “y” time since “n” successive wins        over/under threshold “x.”

The player carries the PED 950 and places it near the wirelesscommunication port 920 of a particular gaming device 910. In oneexample, the jackpot detector program running on the PED 950 generates ascreen 955 that indicates to the player if the particular gaming device910 satisfies the selected criteria. For example, as the player pointsthe PED 950 at the gaming device, or moves it near the wirelesscommunication point 920, an indicator on the screen 955 lightsmomentarily and generates a scanning effect, as illustrated in FIG. 10A.If the game does not match the desired criteria nothing more happens,which indicates that the gaming device 910 does not match the desiredcriteria. Instead, if the game matches the desired criteria, thescanning effect stops, and the screen 955 changes appearance, such asmakes a bright light and particular sound effect to indicate to theplayer that the gaming device 910 matches the criteria. An example ofthe screen 955 in matched mode is illustrated as FIG. 10B.

As the player is searching for a particular game, the player waves orplaces the PED 950 near various gaming devices 910, moving from machineto machine, until the criteria is satisfied and the detector programtriggers. Because of the limited signal distance, as described above,the PED 950 accurately identifies the particular gaming device 910 thathas the criteria that matches the criteria selected by, or used by, theplayer.

As an additional incentive to encourage a player to use a jackpotdetector application on the PED 950, a gaming system may provide a“guarantee” to a player who selects a particular gaming device 910 basedon the jackpot detector. For example, the system can guarantee a minimumset of benefits, such as 100 player loyalty points, or $5.00 in freecredit, or guarantee a jackpot of a certain amount provided a minimumwagering amount is made by the player. In practice, some of the“guaranteed” rewards may, in fact, naturally occur due to the paytableof the gaming device itself, so there is no additional cost to thecasino for the guarantee. Thus, some “guarantees” may be made with theparticular paytables of the gaming devices in mind.

Some embodiments of the invention have been described above, and inaddition, some specific details are shown for purposes of illustratingthe inventive principles. However, numerous other arrangements may bedevised in accordance with the inventive principles of this patentdisclosure. Further, well known processes have not been described indetail in order not to obscure the invention. Thus, while the inventionis described in conjunction with the specific embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, it is not limited to these embodiments or drawings.Rather, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications,and equivalents that come within the scope and spirit of the inventiveprinciples set out in the appended claims.

1. A gaming device on which a primary game is played, the gaming device,comprising: a primary game display; a game information receiver separatefrom the gaming device and structured to receive information about thegaming device as it is being played; a communication server coupled tothe game information receiver; a secondary display proximate the gamingdevice and structured to receive information from the communicationserver; wherein the communication server is structured to cause thesecondary display to operate a secondary game, separate from the primarygame, an outcome of the secondary game based on actions in both theprimary game and in the secondary game.
 2. The gaming device of claim 1in which the secondary display is a portable device mounted to thegaming device.
 3. The gaming device of claim 1 in which the secondarygame is a bonus game.
 4. The gaming device of claim 3 in which a playerof the bonus game accumulates bonus points by surrendering a holdingthat has value in the primary game.
 5. The gaming device of claim 1 inwhich the secondary display comprises a web browser.
 6. The gamingdevice of claim 1 in which the communication is a wireless communicationserver and communicates to the secondary display through a wirelessconnection.
 7. A gaming device having a primary game display on which aprimary game is played, the gaming device comprising: a secondarydisplay structured to generate a message to a player about an interimholding held by the player during an initial portion of the primarygame; a facility for accepting return of the interim holding by theplayer; and a bonus generator coupled to the secondary display andstructured to award the player a bonus in exchange for the playerreturning the interim holding, the bonus outcome displayed on thesecondary display.
 8. The gaming device according to claim 7 in whichthe bonus awarded by the bonus generator is one or more bonus points. 9.The gaming device according to claim 7 in which the secondary displaygenerates the message to the player only when the interim holding is anentry in the paytable of the primary game.
 10. The gaming deviceaccording to claim 9 in which the secondary display also generates themessage to the player when the interim holding is at least a portion ofthe entry in the paytable.
 11. The gaming device according to claim 7 inwhich the secondary display receives data from a wireless server coupledto the gaming device.
 12. A portable device comprising: a wirelesscommunication port structured to communicate with a wirelesscommunication port on a gaming device; a facility structured todetermine if the gaming device is in a present state that matches one ormore criterion; and an indicator to signify an outcome of thedetermination.
 13. The portable device of claim 12 in which the one ormore criterion is specified by a user of the portable device.
 14. Theportable device of claim 12 in which the one or more criterion isselected from a menu of available criteria,
 15. The portable device ofclaim 12 in which the wireless communication port on the portable deviceis structured to communicate with wireless communication ports onmultiple gaming devices, one at a time.
 16. The portable device of claim12 in which the wireless communication port uses a Bluetooth protocol.17. A method of playing a game on an electronic gambling device having apaytable on which a primary game is played, comprising: dealing cards toa player; sending a message to the player through a secondary display;accepting discards of the dealt cards from the player; generating anaward for the player in exchange for the discarded cards, the awardseparate from the paytable of the primary game; and displaying notice ofthe award on the secondary delay.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising generating an award for the player when the accepted discardsmatch a potential winning outcome of the player.
 19. The method of claim17 in which the award is one bonus point that is awarded for acceptingdiscards of any two dissimilar cards of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace. 20.The method of claim 17 in which the award is two bonus points that areawarded for accepting discards of any pair of cards having a value lessthan a pair of Jacks.
 21. The method of claim 17 in which the award isthree bonus points that are awarded for accepting discards of any pairof Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.
 22. A method of selecting a gaming deviceto play on a gaming floor having a plurality of gaming devices, themethod comprising: placing the handheld device within wirelesscommunication range of a presently selected one of the gaming devices;choosing the presently selected one of the gaming devices when a programoperating on the handheld device indicates that the presently selectedone of the gaming devices is in a state that matches a pre-selectedstate stored on the handheld device.
 23. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising selecting the pre-selected state for the handheld device. 24.The method of claim 22 in which the matching state is that the gamingdevice has not awarded a jackpot for longer than a pre-selected timeperiod.
 25. The method of claim 24 in which the time period is measuredin number of games played on the gaming device.
 26. The method of claim22 in which the matching pre-selected state is one of a number of statesstored on the handheld device.